


The Dwellers

by Skullszeyes



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Biting, Blood, Character Turned Into Vampire, Comfort, Crying, Depression, Dubcon Kissing, Fear, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Government Agencies, Human/Vampire Relationship, Jealousy, Kissing, M/M, Magical Realism, Male Slash, Minor Original Character(s), Neck Kissing, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Non-Consensual Kissing, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Out of Character, POV Third Person Limited, Panic Attacks, Possessive Behavior, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rough Kissing, Scenting, Sexual Content, Spies & Secret Agents, Supernatural Creatures, Swearing, Temporary Character Death, Vampire Bites, Vampire Turning, Violence, mentions of werewolves and witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2019-08-21 10:48:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16575002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: SMii7y, a government investigator, is forced to learn why a group of passive Vampires/Dwellers are suddenly becoming active and ravenous. When he thinks he hit a dead end, until a man who occasionally flirts with him is bitten outside of the club where he works, and more leads show up right after.





	1. Investigation

**Author's Note:**

> Yo. This is one of those Krii7y stories I wanted to write. :/ I actually do enjoy vampires, not because of Twilight, I just love vampires since I was young. I used to be a vampire during Halloween, and sometimes a witch, and one time, a bee. :D  
> The first scene is inspired by Connor from Detroit: Become Human at a crime scene, and the other inspiration that connected to it was a fanart on Tumblr. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy. :)
> 
> Comment and/or Kudo's are appreciative.

Click.

The flash goes off in the dim lit room, and he looks at what he captured, before doing it all over again. The sound of voices linger behind him. Police officers swearing under their breaths, while a group of people outside of the small house are cluttering the street with questions.

It began with a harrowing scream, and the neighbor dialed nine one one. The police officer was stumbling over words he couldn’t focus on when he spoke to another officer, then to a detective. The man was pale in the face, shaking, barely able to look within the house again. He was let off work for a few days to collect himself.

Then _he_ was called in.

Warm blankets wrapped around his body and the sound of his phone going off. His eyes were heavy as he reached for the device sitting on his nightstand. It took ten minutes to get up, another to change, a yawn, then he was out the door in simple black jeans with a rip in the right knee, a black jacket that wasn’t zipped up, and a black and blue cap covering his head to keep himself from making eye contact with anyone.

The body is cold, mutilated, slumped against the wall near the blue couch with rips and stains all over it. Blood splashes along the wall, while the rest of the small house is a mess of unclean dishes, several chairs and glass lie on the tile floor, a table with drugs and cigarette ash, including a knife that was used as the weapon to kill the woman.

“Who is he?” one of the officer's asks.

“Some kind of detective,” another says, voice soft.

A woman scoffs by the door, “No, I think he’s an agent of some kind."

“Looks more like one of those paparazzi. How the fuck did he get in?”

“He has clearance,” a police officer said, the same one who had let him past the yellow tape outside, and told him what happened inside the house. “He’s an agent who specializes in these types of incidents.”

“Oh! He’s one of those. They’ve been wandering around these fucking crime scenes since those last deaths happened.”

Last deaths. The ones on the outskirts of several cities, including this one. There were many who died, and some like this woman had markings to prove that they were a part of the same group he was hunting. He had gloves covering his hands as he leaned forward and turned her head. The marking was quite prominent, bite marks, teeth digging into the skin, breaking the layers until it scraped the vein a bit too hard, including the bone. Blood soaked her pink nightgown and stained her pale skin.

There was still the lingering question of why they were doing this. What was their purpose in killing? He had to find out, or at least hope someone finds out before he does. These people don’t deserve to die like this, certainly not this girl.

Sighing, he stood up and let his camera hang around his neck. This place is a dead end. Unlike the optimistic police officers and detectives standing around. He takes off the gloves and drops it into a small garbage on the side before walking past the gossiping officers who are a lot taller than he is. He feels their eyes on his back as he walks out, blinks a few times as the lights from the police officers and the people outside almost blind him.

Taking out his cellphone as he manages to get past the clustered group. Ignoring most of their questions. He phones a car to come grab him down the block. It was late, he was tired, he hated waking up to this. He was helpless to what he could do. If only he saved the people who died from these attacks.

Apparently from the police officer who briefed him, the girl was dating a guy, they argued several times a day from what the neighbors told them, but there were a lot of times when they would see them happy. A couple who had rough times together, but always smiled and spent time in a shitty house in a more shittier neighborhood.

He wasn’t there. The boyfriend. His body wasn’t recovered, and there’s DNA found of him all over the place. He found it absurd since he lived there, but his fingerprints were found on the handle of the knife that killed the woman. Actually he didn’t kill her with the knife, he bit her before he decided to cut her up. To hide what he actually did to her.

Losing control for something like...him.

They dated for months, a year. Why now? Why kill her now? What was his purpose in keeping her alive for so long? Did she know?

He hoped he would have answers by the end of the night, or he’ll check tomorrow and see what he can find. Sooner or later, they’ll capture him, but he’ll be transferred to another location for interrogation and imprisonment, or even execution.

It was messy.

By the end of the second block, a black sleek car appeared and slowed down for him. He got into the back, and once the door closed shut. He took his phone out and dialed a number. Waiting, he moved his leg up and down in anticipation.

“Are you done?” his Handler asked.

He looked out the window and sniffled. “I want the place cleaned up and all information destroyed.”

“Is it that bad?” they asked.

“Bad? No. It’s the same fucking thing. There’s no leads besides a body that needs collecting, and a boyfriend who went off the rails. They’ll find drugs in the girl’s system.” A small smile pulled at the corner of his lips. “That might even be a good alibi. Her fucking boyfriend knew what he was doing when he decided to bite her.”

“A bite this time,” they said, amused.

“Shut up.”

“I’m only assuring that what you’re telling me is the truth and that I’m not reporting any wrong information.”

He nodded. “I’m telling you what I saw. I have pictures if you want those too.”

“Yeah. I’ll have someone pick it up in the evening.”

“Wonderful. Can I go home?”

“Before that, you’ve been instructed to stay in the city until the investigation is cleared.”

Shaking his head, he glared out the window. “No. I’m not staying for a fucking dead end.”

“Come on, SMii7y, you can’t say no to this. You’ve been on this case for awhile—”

“Not out of curiosity—”

“—Either way, you’re new instructions are to stay in the city until you find a good lead. If not, you’ll be demoted, and do you really want that?”

He closed his eyes, brows tense. “For fuck sakes. Why do you do this to me? It’s a ghost.” His voice picked up, frustration laced with each word. “A fucking ghost. I can’t follow them, they lead nowhere!”

A chuckle rolled off his handlers voice in his ear. “Don’t complain. Go get a drink, have some fun.”

Taking a deep breath before he could throw his phone out the window, he said, “Fine. I’ll do that.”

“I’ll call you in the afternoon, if you’re not awake, I’ll have someone come over there and give you your next assignment in this case.”

He wished he could meet this person so he could do something to them. Fingers yearning to wrap around this fuckers neck.

“Okay.” He hung up the phone and stared out the window for the longest time. He hated this. Fucking hated this. He didn’t want the case, but now he was forced to stay on it. Bodies a discoloration of empty smiles, and fear deep within the pores. It was mud, thick around his legs as he tried to trudge through it. He knew he was being undermined, that his last cases always ended up stagnant.

He wished he didn’t have this one, maybe another could ease that pain of rejection from his bosses.

Maybe it could stop the dreams from tormenting him.

A few drinks might help him, or it might ruin his morning. Better than what he had to see, what he had to feel. Better than hating his job.

He looked at the driver, and said, “Take me to The Eclipse.”


	2. Eclipse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kryoz wanted to have fun, flirt with a bartender, go home and sleep. He didn't want the screaming and the pain.

Kryoz grinned in the wash of purple and blue neon colors of the club, with the mingling bodies moving around him as he waves at Tyler across the purple couch with a silver glass table between them. The smoke and sweet perfume swirling around them makes him sniffle while Tyler speaks to Craig. He leaves his side of the couch and plops down beside him.

“What?” Tyler mostly yells into his ear, not like the pounding of the music makes this any better. “Thought you were getting us drinks.”

Kryoz glances toward the bar with its dim lights not overwhelming the blur of the neon on all sides of the club. Two bartenders mix drinks and hand cans of beer while sliding money from the hands of their patrons with easy smiles. It’s a rush, the night barely starting, but fresh and coursing in his veins. An excitement that only wanes as he waits and waits and knows he shouldn’t be waiting anymore.

“He’s not here,” Kryoz says mostly to himself.

“Just get us our drinks, John,” Tyler tells him, nudging him in the shoulder. “Quit waiting for that damn bartender.”

Kryoz sighs and gets up from the couch and makes his way through the crowd. He’s been coming to Eclipse for several weeks with his friends. Mostly bar and club hopping. This one he figured at the time would be the same until he found an interesting conversation with a cheeky bastard. Now, he can’t help but find himself wandering through the doors until he appears. It’s late, about two in the morning, and by the time he gets to the bar and sits on a warm seat. He smiles at the female bartender with brunette hair pulled back into a bun who smiles back.

“Waiting for SMii7y?” she asked, arching a brow.

Kryoz shrugged, innocently. “Why would you say that?”

“That’s the only reason I can find whenever you and him won’t stop conversing. Always holding up his shift for whatever topics you two talk about.”

Kryoz smiles. At least he’s somewhat memorable to some people in this place. He’s only been wandering the club for three weeks. Tyler and Craig don’t mind the place, and the drinks are better than most. Maybe it was the colors that somehow made them stay, and less complain. He knew it wasn’t about his interest in the bartender who was always somehow late with every shift. How he wasn’t fired was a mystery, but Kryoz figured maybe it was his interesting personality that kept it.

“Is he coming in?” Kryoz asked, losing his patience.

The bartender shrugged. “He phoned an hour ago, said he was going to be late. Traffic kept him.”

In this city and at this time of night? Where did he live?

Kryoz nodded, glancing back over his shoulder at Tyler and Craig. They looked more annoyed than usual, and he decided to order their drinks. The bartender placed both glasses filled with Tequila with lime hanging off the rim in front of him with a smile and he paid her. He picked the glasses up, and before he could walk back to his friends, he caught sight of someone at the corner of his eye.

A short brown haired male appeared from the door of the back room. He was pulling on his bartender vest, and his eyes met Kryoz. There was something tired about his gaze, maybe annoyance, but it wasn’t directed at him.

“John.”

“Hey,” Kryoz said, setting the glasses down. “How was the traffic?”

SMii7y glanced to the bartender beside him, giving her a small smile. “It was fine,” he told him.

“Traffic at this time of night?”

“Now you’re keeping tabs on me?” SMii7y asked, tilting his head. “Didn’t we only meet two weeks ago.”

“And I’ve come here mostly every Thursday.”

“It’s Saturday,” SMii7y said.

Kryoz shrugged. “I’ll buy you a drink.”

SMii7y glanced past Kryoz’s head. “You look a bit busy for that.” He tipped his chin before paying attention to another patron.

Kryoz glanced over his shoulder at Tyler and Craig glaring at him from the purple couch.

“Don’t worry,” Kryoz turns around to face SMii7y who’s smiling at him, there was nothing shy about the tilt of his lips and the glint in his dark eyes, maybe a little inviting that makes Kryoz heart race, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Kryoz smiles back, and picks up the glasses. He turns away from the bar and threads through the crowd until he’s back at the purple couch where he hands the glasses to his ungrateful and impatient friends.

He sits beside Tyler, glancing at the bar. “I’m really turned on right now.”

“Thanks for the unneeded information,” Tyler comments, sipping his drink.

For the rest of the night, Kryoz, Tyler, and Craig, dance and laugh among the cluster of people around them. He even gets handed a drink from several people with Tyler grabbing his arm, and yanking him away, while Craig downs most of the alcohol. The music throbs along with his heart, and by the time his phone is about to die. He stumbles back to the bar to order more drinks for himself and his friends when he spots a group of women talking to SMii7y.

All of them laughing like a group of hyenas among the loud music and voices colliding together. The alcohol warmed his blood, but his heart raced a little too painfully, and there was a small part of instinctual disgust numbing his senses. Before he could pull himself back from the brink, he jumped, pushing his way through the crowd, and past the group of girls before smiling at SMii7y who raised his brows in surprise.

“You’re going to blow me, right? Like you promised? Or am I going to jerk you off first?” Kryoz asked, finding the words slipping from his lips, and the laughter building up in his chest releasing.

The women were passing their bills to SMii7y, and seemed to have ignored Kryoz who was still gazing at SMii7y.

“Didn’t take you for the jealous type,” SMii7y said once the women were gone and more patrons crowded the bar, a few simply paying for their drinks.

He was cleaning a glass, and was focused on that, but Kryoz had to take in the words SMii7y had said, and shrugged away any doubt that maybe he was a little jealous.

“Not my finest moment,” Kryoz said.

SMii7y chuckles, setting down the clean glass. “What would you consider your finest moment?”

He leaned against the counter and said, “Let me buy you a drink.”

Something changes in SMii7y’s expression. Maybe a mix of both sweetness and seriousness that doesn’t look right. His smile is wide, but his eyes are staring at Kryoz as if he’s trying his hardest to figure him out. Or maybe he does and that’s the reason why he leans closer, not breaking eye contact.

“Alright, buy me a drink.”

Maybe Kryoz is way too deep in this scenario he likes making up. Maybe he wants to take SMii7y home and slowly pull the clothes from his body, kiss the skin that is hidden from his eyes by the white pressed shirt and black vest. Maybe he simply wants to hear SMii7y, and only him instead of the loudness of the club. Maybe...just maybe, he wants to taste SMii7y instead of closing his eyes and feeling himself, pretending, pretending, pretending.

It was never enough.

The moment is ruined by a sudden ear splitting scream and they both look toward a group of people leaving the hall that leads to the bathroom. The music's loud enough to drown it out, but the ones closest notice the commotion. And the blood that follows as a group falls to the ground. The blood is stark upon their skin and clothes, including the skin missing from most of them. The next thing is the screaming that alerts more people, and a hoard are heading for the doors.

“Shit.” SMii7y stares at the blood and the bites. “Leave,” he tells Kryoz, and grabs his coworkers who are startled by the sight.

Kryoz twists around to look for his friends, but he spots them already heading for the doors. Kryoz runs through the crowd, pushing several to hurry up, and once he’s out the door and the night air is almost a relief from the hot, sweaty, club. He stumbles off the sidewalk and down the road, but he keeps glancing back. A small part of him wants to head back and make sure SMii7y is okay, another wants to know if his friends are alright. They weren’t near the people with the large bite marks. Who would do that? What kind of sick bastard would take a chunk out of someone like that?

It sent a shiver down his spine.

He slows his pace when he spots SMii7y exiting the side door of the building with a long dark coat, and seemed more peeved than scared.

He’s about to wave when he feels hands curling hard into his arm and throws him to the ground. When he hits the pavement, he turns, groaning and about to get up when the person stands over him.

Kryoz goes still when he spots the blood on their face, mostly dripping fresh from their chin, the man’s eyes are dark and hazy, and seemed heavily fixated on him.

“What the fuck?” Kryoz asked, frantic.

“I’m really, really hungry,” the man says, growling like some kind of wild animal before he jumped onto Kryoz. His body hovering, sniffing, yanking back Kryoz bleach blond hair to level his face over his neck.

“Get the fuck off of me,” Kryoz yelled, trying his best to shove the man off, but he didn’t look phased by Kryoz attempts. He was a lot more fixed on his neck, on the unmarred skin near the collarbone meeting his shoulder.

Kryoz heard the small thumps of sound growing closer as the puncture of hard edged teeth dug into his skin. He was a little preoccupied with screaming and thrashing as blood dribbled out, the warmth turning cold in seconds as the man didn’t stop digging his teeth in until Kryoz could barely think straight.

Haze filters his sight when the teeth is pulled from his throat and the man’s body is no longer on top of him. He gasps, trying to suck in air that somehow tastes odd on his tongue. Blinking a few times as he hears screaming, and when he raises himself on his elbows, and finally regains a bit of his sight.

The popping noise jolts him and he goes still once more.

SMii7y is standing over the man with a gun in his hand, pointing directly downwards. The man snarls, his shoulder bleeding from the bullet wound. SMii7y’s expression doesn’t change as he stares at the man, then he raises the gun, and Kryoz sucks in a breath as he pulls the trigger.

The body goes limp on the asphalt, and SMii7y tucks his gun away taking out a cellphone. He turns to Kryoz still lying on the ground. The wound in his neck throbs, but the heat turned cold, like some kind of cold pack or ice cubes are in his veins and he isn’t sure why he’s not freaking out that some asshole bit him.

Reality sets in not even a second later, and his hand covers his wound, he winces, but his thoughts are running a little too wild for him to think clearly.

“You-You shot him,” he says, finding he can’t stand up.

SMii7y takes off his dark coat and kneels down in front of him. “He was taking a bite out of you.” He wraps the coat around his shoulders. “What else was I supposed to do?”

He was bit, and the dude he likes killed some drunk asshole.

“You killed him!”

SMii7y nods. “I know.”

“And...And…” Kryoz stares at the body several feet away from him. “Why the fuck did he bite me? Is he a vampire?” He was delusional. He had to be. This wasn’t happening.

“I mean, what else could he be?” SMii7y asked, smiling.

“He was, right?”

“He could be a drunk person.”

“Are you seriously joking?”

“About this issue? No.”

Kryoz grits his teeth. His wound is cold, so damn cold.

SMii7y sniffles, and rises to his feet. He dials a number that Kryoz is hoping is an ambulance, but instead he gets something else. “Hey. Yeah, I know, it’s not even four in the morning, but that case found me.” SMii7y scowls. “At my work, ridiculous. Don’t laugh at me about this...anyway, a couple of vampires attacked civilians at Eclipse and I want the place cleaned up, including anyone who thinks they know what they think they witnessed.”

Vampire. He said vampire. He was joking, but now he’s not joking. What the fuck? Kryoz looks at his hand, and the blood is strangely dark, but he blames the dim streetlight.

SMii7y gets off the phone and walks over to the man he killed. He kneels down and holds the man’s jaw open before yanking out a tooth.

Kryoz winces at the sound. “That’s fucking gross. What are you doing?”

“Fang,” SMii7y waves it at him, “it’ll help with an antidote to your infection.”

 _Infection?_ Kryoz looks at the blood staining his hand, and frowns. “Am I drugged?”

“I don’t think so,” SMii7y answers mildly, taking photo’s with his cellphone camera.

Once he’s finished, he walks back over to Kryoz, dialing a number on his phone while offering Kryoz his hand to help him to his feet.

“I need a car, a civilian got bit,” SMii7y says, leading Kryoz over to the sidewalk. “Eclipse Night Club.”

“Who are you?” Kryoz asked, wrapping the coat tightly around him. It was getting cold, too cold. He shivered, teeth almost chattering.

“No one, but an ex-bartender,” SMii7y answered, looking closed off as he tucked his hands into his pockets. “That’s all you need to know.”

He was different from the one he met in the club. Different from the one who smiled, and flirted, and laughed. This SMii7y was someone new, or maybe Kryoz met a fake persona, and this was actually who he was underneath. Someone with a job who knew a little too much more than the outside people. He wasn’t technically a liar, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut.

Maybe it was a little unfair. Kryoz couldn’t even think about his disappointment, and so they stood on the sidewalk in silence until a black car appeared. It was expensive, beautiful, and SMii7y grabbed the door to the back seat.

“Get in,” he said.

And Kryoz, still cold and growing tired, crawled into the back seat, the door closed behind SMii7y who told the driver where to go, and it wasn’t the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a scene in this chapter that was inspired by fanart of Krii7y on Tumblr by @fzzzzzzzz It's Smii7y as a bartender, and Kryoz as a patron. I really liked the colors and art style, and decided to add a scene in my fanfic. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciative. xD


	3. Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SMii7y brought in Kryoz, but he's still investigating the recent attacks going on in the last few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. I'm still outlining this story. :) I'm hoping to flesh it out some more and making it more coherent to whatever I'm trying to think up. LOL. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudos are appreciative.

They drove through the city, SMii7y glancing at John every few minutes. He wouldn’t deny he was feeling a slight anxiety over John’s ragged breaths, and sickly pale face. He was even shaking and sweating. SMii7y didn’t like this. He held the molar in his pocket. Hoping so much of a chance that they’ll get to Orion without any trouble. SMii7y was ready for it, even how much he wished he wasn’t, but he was the type of person that has to be, and the driver needed protection since he was driving. Maybe the worst thing wouldn’t happen.

“It’s hot,” John whispered, lip trembling, “Why is it so hot?”

“The venom is still in your system,” SMii7y told him, tone flat, “you’ll feel it for sometime, but I’ll get you to an antidote soon.”

He nodded, leaning against the door and closing his eyes.

SMii7y gritted his teeth. This was bad, he didn’t like dealing with this sort of thing, but it happened on his watch, and it was now his responsibility to take care of him. He’ll die, that was the short answer if they didn’t get him to an antidote soon, the long answer was that he’ll wake up. And the waking up part was the actual problem. SMii7y didn’t need this, not when he was investigating, not when he lost his grip for one second when the man with dark blotched eyes sunk his teeth into John’s neck.

He hadn’t expected the outbreak to follow him to his work and not make John into a liability. The word tasted strange on his tongue and he had to force his eyes away from John’s fatigued body. That was it, wasn’t it? A liability. A thing waking up and starving for something a normal human shouldn’t be looking for to sate their appetite. Just when his investigation stalled at a dead end, it managed to find a way through. And when he wanted to try and get out of it, it decided to pull him deeper. This little incident at Eclipse made things worse for him, and he’ll probably won’t be getting out any time soon.

“Who...are you?” John murmured.

He knew eventually the question would arise, but he hoped he could avoid it. John did seem a little too delirious to truly remember what he is about to say. “I’m an agent,” SMii7y said, clearing his throat, “of a branch from the government.” He guessed if he wasn’t wearing his bartender uniform, he wouldn’t have to feel like he was lying, or even awkward. He needed a drink.

“Elaborate.”

SMii7y wrinkled his nose. “I investigate dead things.” Yeah, that’s the right word to use, simplify it for a drunk yet dying man. “Organisms that evolutionize, and are dangerous for humankind if not managed correctly.”

John frowns at him, panting low between parted lips. “Vampires are real?” he asked, skeptical.

He was once asking the same dumb question. He probably wore the exact same expression, except without venom in his system. He was young when he started this, and it was mostly a friend of a friend sort of thing. He kind of regretted it, but it’s not like he can skip out on his duties when it paid the bills and the airplane rides across the world. At least he got to eat.

SMii7y shrugged, looking away from him. “If you believe they’re real, then yeah, they’re fucking real.”

The drive feels slow, but they finally arrive to a tall building with heat reflective glass windows that make up the entirety on the outside, and a clean cement walkway to the front door.

A group of medics dressed in white were already waiting for them. SMii7y kicked the car door shut and watched them placed John on a stretcher. He was groaning, mumbling words that no one was listening too. SMii7y followed along, not as quick as the medic’s, but he found the doctor inside the facility and hands her the molar he extracted.

“He’s contaminated,” SMii7y warns. The doctor nodded and turned toward her nurses as SMii7y steps over to the side of the bed they placed John on. “Hey, they’re going to take care of you.”

“Where are you going?” John asked, trying to lift his hand to SMii7y’s.

He ignores it, dragging his hand away from John and keeping his eyes on him as he says, “By the time I return, you’ll be healed of the infection.”

“Don’t go,” he murmured.

SMii7y glanced to the side and caught sight of his coat. He reached for it and patted John on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine.” And then he left the room and took out his phone from his pocket and dialed his Handler’s number. He waited as the phone rang as he stood in the empty white hall and smelled the strong scent of antiseptic and cleaning products.

He sniffles, trying not to think of what was happening behind the door as he sauntered down the hallway. There wasn’t anything he could do to help John, and he had his own business to conduct. Mostly the problems that arose, and the ones that gave him a headache. He should really go home and sleep.

“SMii7y,” his Handler spoke after he had called twice, “sorry about that, was a bit busy. Didn’t think you’d be calling so soon.”

“I brought the civilian to Orion,” SMii7y said, sitting down on the black leather bench in the main foyer of the building and rubbed his forehead, “I’m only reporting in, sorry for bothering you.”

“No. That’s fine. Are you staying in the building?”

“Until I know.”

“That bad?”

“I don’t know. I hate dealing with this kind of shit.”

His Handler hummed. “What are you going to do if shit hits the fan?”

What was he going to do? The answer was easy, this was his job, his responsibilities, and there were protocols. “I’ll let them handle it if it gets any worse.”

“You’re committed to the case?”

SMii7y sighed, the night was terrible, and his eyes burned from a lack of sleep. “I’ll look into anything I can find on what happened tonight, at the house and...at Eclipse.”

“Are you going to explain it to them?” his Handler asked, “your employer?”

“No. I’ll quit.”

“If only it was so easy,” his Handler chuckled.

SMii7y glared. “I’d rather not have this conversation with _you._ ”

“I’d rather not have it either. If you’re looking into it, then I’ll have the report in tomorrow afternoon. Expect delivery.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Goodnight, SMii7y.”

He hung up and covered his face with his hands. He sat in the foyer until he got a hold of himself, grasping his phone and coat, he headed for the elevator and rose to the seventh floor, meandered down the hall to a room with a keypad. He put in the code and stepped into the File Room. There were more than one, and he didn’t want to look through all of them. Most of the reports were typed up and printed, and later deleted from the system. It was all compiled in the File Room, and there were multiple copies to secure the information.

The room was dim lit with a yellow shadow upon long aisles of metal shelves with brown labeled boxes set in an alphabetical order. Of course they were also numbered and it made it difficult to actually find what you’re looking for.

SMii7y walked along the narrow aisles and came to an old pale computer with thick keys and a new mouse and mouse pad. It was sitting on a tall brown desk with a wobbly stool. The clerk didn’t stay until eleven at night, and not many people were allowed in the room anyway. He used the computer and looked through the files until he found it. Most recent reports were registered, and it was a good thing someone like him knew what he was looking for, cause if he didn’t, then there was a lot of reading to do, and SMii7y wasn’t exactly the reading type. There was also places within the system that allowed someone with his clearance to get too.

SMii7y pulled up the report on the recent—before Eclipse—activity and found the house was rented by a man named Max Daniels, co-signed by his deceased girlfriend, Sarah Reynolds. They had a car signed as well, but it belonged to Sarah, she’s the one who bought it, including a gun that was found at the crime scene but it wasn’t fired and the clip was full.

He wrinkled his nose. The cops really cleaned up the place—figuratively—and made sure most of the evidence was taken into police custody. Not like that would stop Orion, they were quite sneaky when they wanted to be, and had clearance to take all evidence the police eventually had on hand.

SMii7y closed off the files and drummed his fingers on the desk. “He made sure that she owned everything.” Even at the crime scene, there weren’t much things that were owned by Max Daniels. He didn’t have much besides shaving cream and a toothbrush. His clothes were gone, and everything in their shared bedroom belonged to Sarah. The report found a hairbrush with both of their strands, including the makeup that had her fingerprints, and most of her clothes were unwashed and shoved into a closet.

 _Current whereabouts are unknown._ It was the last thing he read before he signed out, and it didn’t give him anything to go on, Max was careful, his relationship with Sarah wasn’t exactly physical, but she had no other wounds on her that indicated that he fed on her. Except the one on her neck that killed her.

“They lived a messy life,” SMii7y said, walking down the aisle to the door and stepped into the hallway. The door closed slowly behind him and when it clicked shut, he was already in the elevator.

The outbreak was in the city, at a nightclub of all things, so Max either left the city, or was still inside and living in some secluded house or maybe he was finding someone else to hide in their shadow.

“SMii7y!” He turned at the call of his name and raised his brows at the sight of Anthony and Claire. Two agents that don’t go on fieldwork and mostly type up paperwork, they were holding cups of coffee, and at this late at night, looked refreshed. “How’s work?” Anthony asked, smiling.

SMii7y shrugged. “Brought in an infected.”

Claire made a face, she was a short dark haired woman with brown skin, quite tall in her black heels, and slim in her black skirt and blazer. “Is he in isolation?” she asked.

“No. I brought in the fang and I’m hoping he’ll be cured,” SMii7y said, heart racing unexpectedly at the thought. He wasn’t optimistic about much, but for once, he wanted to be.

“Where did you find him?” Anthony asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Outside Eclipse.”

Claire laughed, and it echoed in the empty hall. “At your work?”

Anthony looked surprised. “You still work there?”

SMii7y shook his head. “Not anymore.

“I’m not sure why you decided on a cover like that,” Claire said, “but you’re better off being an agent for Orion. Not a bartender of all things.”

They had the same conversation when he first got hired at Eclipse. He wasn’t as thrilled about Claire and Anthony telling him he should stay, but he lingered in the city for almost six months, and he wanted to do something before he left. His work didn’t allow him to stay in place for too long, and he was hoping this was his last night anyway.

“It was only a hobby,” SMii7y said, looking away and frowning.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “did _he_ clear you?”

SMii7y met her eyes, and shook his head. “He wants me to stay and finish the investigation.” He sneered at how petulant he sounded, and then his phone started to ring.

He answered it halfheartedly. “Yeah?”

“It’s Dr. Marie, I’ve got some bad news,” SMii7y clenched his hand around the phone at her sad tone, “the contaminated patient you brought in di—” SMii7y hung up and sprinted down the hallway, ignoring his friends as he rushed back to the room and caught sight of a nurse outside. She was directing him into the room, and he slowed his pace as he entered.

He chanted under his panting breath. “No, no, no, no, not him, not him.” His skin is already grey, dark veins connecting around his neck and clawing to his face where his mouth hung open, and his eyes were closed where more veins pushed against the skin. “Fuck...fuck!”

This was bad. This was more than just bad, this was unbearable. The worst thing that could have happened now just happened.

SMii7y placed his hands on the table next to John’s arm, staring sadly down at his face and the veins sinking into his skin to the bite at his neck.

John just became a problem.


	4. Unfair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kryoz wakes up and SMii7y explains what is happening to him.

He woke up, dry coughing, hand placed to his chest as his eyes squeezed shut. It was harsh, but then he opened his eyes and fell back against the bed. The room was colder than it should be, he felt for a blanket, but the bright lights blinding his eyes reminded him where he resided.

“Water…” Kryoz murmured, turning his head toward two familiar people speaking to each other. One was the guy that saved his life, the one he went to Eclipse for, buying him drinks and hoping for a more intimate night. The other was the doctor who made him pass out, while the other nurses were gone from the room.

The machine beside him hummed, but there was no other noise besides his panting breath leaving his lips.

Something was wrong. He didn’t know what, he could barely think, but he knew something was terribly wrong. “I need water,” he said, a little louder.

SMii7y glanced at him, brows knitted together. “Get him some water and bring the capsules,” he told the doctor as he walked over to Kryoz. He wore an uneasy expression, his lips drawn into a tense line as he stared down at him. “I’m going to tell you somethings, and I want you to stay calm, okay.”

“What?” Kryoz asked. The lights were too blinding, and it was still so cold in the room. “I’m thirsty.”

“I know,” SMii7y said, “she should be back soon. Just stay and listen.”

“Okay.” There was a pressure in his chest, he felt it grow when he woke up, as if his lungs were burning, going up his esophagus and around his tongue. His organs were shriveling. He knew they were, they had to be from the pain aching inside of him.

“I didn’t know it was going to work so quickly,” SMii7y began, confliction and regret were prominent in his eyes. He looked all over Kryoz’s face as if… “I seen many who got bit, and they were fine for several hours, sometimes a full day. But this, it was too quick for the doctor to catch. I didn’t want this to happen, you have to believe me, John. I really tried...damn it, I should’ve killed him sooner, I should’ve done something, but I didn’t know he was so close until it was too late. What kind of hunter am I if I can’t even protect others from this damn infection.”

Kryoz stared at SMii7y, unsure what he was talking about. The questions were on the tip of his tongue, but the pain, the drying out inside his body burned and cracked. He could barely think without listening to it move around inside, peeling apart like old paint. If he had a piece, he could possibly turn it into dust between his fingers.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, pushing himself into a sitting position. He almost tipped over, the room had spun, tilting back and forth, but SMii7y grabbed him and held him up before he could fall to the hard white floor. There was something else, a distinct smell, growing and growing inside the room as if the walls had rot between the crevices. A taste of rusted metal swarming his taste buds. He hated it, it was too raw, an ache inside his body pulsed, like a heartbeat but something completely different. “I smell something disgusting,” Kryoz said, covering his nose. “Can you give me a Tylenol? I think...I’m getting sick.” More sick than he was already, but he knew whatever the doctor had done to him was getting worse.

SMii7y frowned, but he didn’t move away from him. His hand stayed complacent on his arm, a soft grip, but nothing else. “I can’t, it won’t work for you, at least not the way you want it to work for you.”

Kryoz blinked, glaring at the lights beside him. “What are you talking about?” That smell was in his nose, in his throat, crusting within his body. It was hard to breathe without that smell lingering so thick in the air. “I can smell...blood?” Is that what it was? Large amounts of blood simmering around him, more so than the cleaning products that stuck to the floors, glass, and metal machinery. He was too aware of it and it was giving him a terrible migraine.

The doctor returned with the water. She was cautious, looking at Kryoz as if something was wrong with him. She passed the glass of water and bottle of red capsules to SMii7y who passed the glass to Kryoz, except he kept his hand on the glass while Kryoz’s own hand was shaking. Why was he shaking?

“You might want to leave,” SMii7y told the doctor.

She nodded, giving a wary glance at Kryoz before leaving.

Kryoz watched her leave, frowning at her reaction and why she was being like that. SMii7y helped him drink the water, but it wasn’t enough. He was still thirsty and it was unbearable. The migraine ached, making it hard for him to breathe.

“The smell…” Kryoz shook his head, trying to get off the bed, but SMii7y squeezed his arm and kept him still.

“You’re smelling blood,” SMii7y said, setting the glass down on the table that was half full, and looked straight at Kryoz. Whatever conflict and regret that was in his eyes was now gone, there was something else, an emptiness, not of sadness, but whatever he had to deal with which was Kryoz and it annoyed him that this is what he had to wake up too.

“Like I keep on saying, I don’t have no idea what’s going on. Did they take the infection out of me?” he asked, feeling for the bite marks on his neck, small stitches on the sides told him they had closed the wound, but it was numb. No direct pain as he smoothed his finger over the stitch.

“You’re smelling your own blood,” SMii7y said, shaking his head. “Probably why it’s so damn thick. And my own, of course.”

Kryoz stared, completely confused by what he was saying. Except it started to inch its way inside his head. Realization slowly dawning on him.

“Some people have menstrual cycles,” SMii7y said, looking toward the door the doctor had left through, “you might want to control yourself around people during those times.”

“What the fuck?” Kryoz said, his mouth parting. “Why would I…?”

SMii7y’s frown deepened, and then he nodded, confirming his assumption. “You died.”

He took off the lid of the pill bottle and three pills fell into his hand. They were simple red capsules, but Kryoz knew what it was and he started to shake his head. SMii7y reached for the glass of water he hadn’t finished and turned to Kryoz.

“The capsules are filled with blood, it’ll sustain you for awhile, at least keep your thirst under control.”

He couldn’t believe SMii7y was taking this in stride. As if the turmoil in Kryoz wasn’t there for him to see. “No,” Kryoz said, moving back, but there was no where else to go. He had hit a wall, and climbing over it was impossible in his situation.

“You have too,” SMii7y urged, “you can’t walk around without them, your infection will only get worse, and you might do something you’ll regret.”

Kryoz sucked in a breath, it shuddered as he let it out. “It’s plastic. I can smell it...the plastic.”

SMii7y did not look in anyway patient. “And blood, you need this.”

Hesitantly, Kryoz took the pill and the glass of water. This was it, right? A small part of him was trying to accept the reality of what was happening. Kryoz swallowed the pill and drank the water. He felt it go down his dry throat.

“We use it for interrogations,” SMii7y told him.

“Interrogations?”

“It helps when a hungry vampire doesn’t destroy an entire room.” SMii7y took the glass from him. “It’s impossible to talk to them coherently when they’re like that. So we supply them a few blood capsules and they calm down enough to control themselves. It keeps them complacent and from deteriorating.”

Kryoz frowned at him. “Are you always this terrifying?”

He knew the moment that everything had fallen apart back at The Eclipse was when he’d have to accept the reality that SMii7y was not an ordinary person. There was something soft about his face, his eyes, his laugh. Once when Kryoz was separated between a counter and glasses of alcohol, the pulse of music, and the imagination he created for a man he never knew. Would he ever know SMii7y the way he wanted too?

Or did this ache in his chest at finally learning who SMii7y was is simply regret? Was he disappointed in learning about SMii7y beyond the facade?

The softness of his face couldn’t rid the cold interior of SMii7y’s personality, and the job he takes on.

“We only know each other as bartender and patron,” SMii7y told him, walking toward the table and setting the empty glass down. “You were never meant to find out who I am, or what I do. The divide was perfect, at least once before you were bit.”

Kryoz sighed. “Now that we know where we stand, would you ever sleep with me?” He smiled at the way SMii7y had went still, his body turned away from him, and the hesitancy amused him beyond the raw taste of blood in his mouth.

“I don’t sleep with vampires,” SMii7y told him, turning around, “or any otherworldly creatures. It’s against protocol to make that type of contact. My job only relies on obtaining or neutraliz—”

“I would sleep with you,” Kryoz said, cutting him off. “You know, if I was alive. Would you have if I was...alive?” It was bad enough that he was dead now. Or at least somewhat, but he was particularly either. He moved around, thought, and spoke. Except, he knew the cliches of vampirism. They were controlled by blood, and the sun was the enemy.

“No,” SMii7y bluntly says. “My job is more important than sleeping with a random patron turned vampire. I always avoid romantic entanglements.”

Kryoz smirked. “I think I can get you to beg.” Might as well find a way to distract himself from his _death._

SMii7y rolled his eyes, smiling. “I think I can have you begging way before you ever get me too,” he walked closer to Kryoz, and the proximity sent a wave of heat throughout Kryoz’s body, an expectation, a desire, “and it won’t be for what’s in your pants,” he shook the bottle of blood capsules at Kryoz whose smile was wiped from his face, “but what is in these pills. You’re dead, John. Being a vampire in this world is not safe. You either choose to stay and live in a government facility or you choose a permanent death from the second life you’ve been reluctantly given.”

“Are those really my options?” Kryoz asked. It was unfair how cruel SMii7y can speak those options as if this was all a joke, but it was the only ones he was now given. It’s not like Kryoz can go back and live his normal life. “I think I’d rather be free.”

SMii7y pocketed the pills. “That’s not an option, John. The government will unlikely set you free now that you’ve turned. It would’ve been a lot different if you were cured of the infection. I’m hoping to get an analysis on why you succumbed so quickly. The body of the vampire who bit you will arrive soon.”

And now he seemed distracted by his work. Not like Kryoz would understand SMii7y the way he wanted too. Maybe this was who he was. A fucking government agent who decided to take on a side job, only to unfortunately meet a patron who had fallen for him.

It was unfair.

“You’re Turning is still ongoing,” SMii7y continued, “and you’ll be carefully watched over for the next few days, possibly weeks if they want to keep you detained for an extended period before they move you.”

He was different. Completely different from the imagined version Kryoz had created for him. The real SMii7y seemed more like a workaholic.

“I don’t think they’d want any vital organs to stop working. Apparently you flat lined for about fifteen minutes and the infection had brought you back to life. The doctor already checked your heart and lungs, but who knows if something else will simply stop working. It’s incredibly delicate for you not to move around too much. The Turning will be difficult and probably be the worst fucking weeks of your life, but it’s inevitable. Unless you want to actually die beforehand, and I can get that handled.”

“Those are my options?” Kryoz asked, conflicted.

“Yes. You’ll want to die after this.” SMii7y smirked. “Probably be the only thing you’ll be begging for. I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you, this is life, and it sucks.”

“For me, not for you.”

SMii7y glanced at him, frowning.

“What?” Kryoz asked, bitter. “This is your job, right? Bring in vampires or kill them? When has it ever crossed your mind that you’d care about the victims.”

“I care,” SMii7y said, rocking back and forth on his feet. “Except I’m not ordered to care, that isn’t my job, I’m not some kind of caretaker. I’m a hunter of your kind, I either bring you in or I don’t.”

Hunter. My kind. It all tasted so disgusting in his mouth, an unfair inevitability of the life he now lives. Why couldn’t he go back to the way he lived, ignorant of the world SMii7y lived in? Even if he was rejected by him, maybe it’d feel a lot better than knowing who he was underneath the mask he puts on during his time as a bartender.

They waited, SMii7y telling him that the doctors will look him over and they’ll transfer him to a detainment cell until his Turning his finished. Afterwards, they’ll continue with the tests and later take him to another facility to be watched more thoroughly.

A few minutes later, a different doctor walked in with several nurses. SMii7y stepped outside while they looked over Kryoz’s vitals, taking samples from him, and cleaning the bite mark and checking if it went purple or grew odd bumps. After they checked him over, two guards entered the room, followed by SMii7y who stayed by the door, watching as they told Kryoz not to try to run, or even fight. He’s under jurisdiction that he no longer has any right to leave without an official escort. SMii7y, however, was allowed to stay with him, and that he’s currently his _Keeper_.

They took him out of the room and they headed down the hallway toward an elevator that brought them down to a lower level. SMii7y said nothing throughout the entire process as they went down another corridor and came to a desk that Kryoz had to sign.

What he came upon was exactly what he was expecting, and at the same time, he wasn’t expecting.

Cells. Steel doors on either side with a small window to see within. He heard nothing coming from them, and wondered if anyone was inside, or it was sound proof to keep the screaming from bouncing off the walls.

“I don’t think I want to do this,” Kryoz said, chest tightening when one of the cells were opened to him. The room was small with nothing inside besides a steel wall and floor. A small light above was enforced and dim unlike the corridor lights that burned his eyes.

“This is as humane as it gets,” SMii7y said, arms crossed over his chest.

Kryoz nodded slowly, and he cautiously stepped into the cell before the door was closed behind him. He heard the mechanism seal shut.

The small opening in the door opened, and SMii7y’s voice came through. “I’m sorry.” And he sounded like he did, a solemn tone twined in his voice, “but no one is going to open the door for you, even how much you cry and beg and tear at your own skin.”

Kryoz shuddered at the implication of what he meant.

“The Turning itself can take twenty-four hours, or thirty-two.” And that’s all he said before Kryoz was draped over with silence, an eerie quiet that gave him a headache. He sat down against the cold wall and brought his legs to his chest.

This was it, wasn’t it? A Turning he didn’t expect to happen, vampirism, a simple bite mark that killed him in a matter of minutes. He was truly never leaving this room until they say he can leave. No one was going to help him, or even bother to hear him.

Kryoz tensed, his body was slowly going rigid, a tightness in his head as the first wave of thirst overcame him. His mouth and throat were going dry, and his skin itched as if he could tear off flakes of dried skin.

Kryoz blinked a few times, trying his best not to cry, even if there was no moisture at his eyes.

“I’m a vampire,” Kryoz whispered, digging his fingers into his arms as he continued to whisper those words to himself. “I’m a vampire.”

And he was going to break under the pressure.


	5. Three Ranks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SMii7y is conflicted, and he asks his Handler for help, but he also needs to do his job instead of worrying about what's happening to Kryoz.

SMii7y walked down the hallway after he secured John within the room. He took out his phone and dialed his Handler’s number. More employs were walking through the front doors and they were keeping to themselves while he sat down on a sofa, tapping his foot on the floor.

He never knew another Dweller who was about to turn. Never spoken to any before they became one. Except he had known John, or at least knew him as a patron who chatted with him at the bar within The Eclipse.

He had changed his strategy from compassion to cold reason. He knew this was going to happen to John. He couldn’t say it wasn’t going too, and he couldn’t offer much advice to him without giving him a different option from the one that was currently given. It wasn’t like SMii7y could stand there in front of him and lie.

He had seen a transition period, and it was a raw experience of tortured screaming that burned their throat, fingers grasping for the skin and ripping through the layers. The lack of nutrients in the body, the cells dying, and the skin would become ashen because of it, either a light color or a dark color, depends on the person who was bitten. Even their eyes would change during the transition, blacken and become a deep red.

The Dweller would need to be held down, carefully injected to stabilize them. And then afterwards, they wouldn’t be considered human anymore, and the humane nature during and after would change completely.

Eventually Orion will transfer John to a more secure facility and they’ll try and clean up the mess. SMii7y will be given a different assignment, and that will keep him busy from caring about another Dweller. Not like SMii7y had thought about it before.

The phone was finally answered after the third call, and they had cleared their throat. “What is it now, SMii7y?” his Handler asked.

He knew some of what he was going to ask, but he wanted to know more. There was some basics of what he knew about Dweller’s to be true, and he wanted to know if his Handler knew a lot more.

“Can you tell me about Vampirism?”

“Ah, so the civilian turned.”

SMii7y gritted his teeth and let out a sigh, “What do you know?”

“How do you not know? You hunt them for a living.”

“I know, but I don’t usually care about the victims,” SMii7y shook his head, annoyed about his lack of remorse for others until it mattered, “it’s not my job to care, but this guy...I knew him and now he’s suffering inside a Detainment Cell. I know the basics.” SMii7y rose from the sofa and started to pace in the foyer, “Human gets bit by a vampire, they turn, and then they wreak havoc on others unless controlled or killed. But...I need to know more, there has to be more than that.”

“Well, Vampires or in other words, the Dwellers, have a thirst for blood, that’s one of the tropes of their existence, but they don’t need blood like it is in the films or books.”

“What do you mean?” SMii7y asked.

“They’re thirst can wane over a few weeks to a few months. They don’t need blood all the time, and it’s usually the ones who can sustain it.”

“Which are?”

“The higher up Vampires, they’re known as Seekers, unlike your fledgling who’ll be a lot difficult to control now that he has been bitten. I assure you that leaving him in a Detainment Cell for awhile will help and destroy him. Mentally, a fledgling can’t survive on its own without its Sire.”

SMii7y stopped in the middle of the foyer, ignoring a group walking by him, their chatter drowned out by his racing heart, and disappointment towards himself. He clenched his teeth, almost having the urge to break his phone.

“I...killed his Sire…”

His Handler started to laugh in his ear, annoying him more. “He’s nothing more than a baby chick without a mother.” He laughed some more while SMii7y started to pace the foyer again.

“Anything else?”

“They can eat normal food as a fledgling until they no longer need it,” his Handler continued, finally calming down. “It’s probably the reason why they become chaotic, they can’t tell what they want, either normal foods, or blood.”

“Human morals tells them different,” SMii7y said.

“Exactly. Not many people in the world would drink human blood, nor is it good for us, and our body will expel it after awhile. A newborn Dweller will fight with their morals for sometime, it’ll take weeks, maybe months, but sooner or later, they’ll drop the normal food, even water, and simply sustain themselves with blood.”

“Anything else I need to know?” SMii7y asked, sitting back down on the sofa.

“Dwellers find themselves getting attached to certain people they drink from. Thralls of some kind, servants, blood slaves. Some research shows it doesn’t have to do with blood type, but...a bond.”

“A bond?”

“Yes. A type of bond the Dweller seeks out and craves. Only their blood and heat will calm them.”

“Like Max Daniels and Sarah Reynolds,” SMii7y said, contemplating.

“Possibly. Are you still researching or are you too busy with _your fledgling_?”

“I will, tomorrow.”

“Oh, another thing,” his Handler said as SMii7y got up and headed for the front doors to Orion, “since they died, and sooner or later a Dwellers only source of food will be blood. A Dweller can’t have children. An impossibility. Do ignore the films and books that romanticize childbearing, it’s incredibly unlikely, and if it ever happens, will...let’s just say the child will be in a facility, experimented on for the rest of its life.”

“Thanks for the warning, but I don’t want children,” SMii7y said, scowling at the thought of babies and kids.

His Handler chuckled at his response. “That’s fair. I do wonder about this person who you’re so fixated on.”

SMii7y pressed his finger against the keypad, hearing the click of the lock to the car, pulled the door open, and got in. He didn’t want to overly think about what his Handler was suggesting. “It doesn’t matter. It’s too late to think about that.”

“They came back to life...maybe as something you don’t want, but they’re still alive, and I don’t think that’s too late in the least.”

SMii7y wrinkled his nose at the idea. “Is there anything else I should know? I’d like to go home and sleep.”

“I’ll wait to give you your report tomorrow, good night, again, SMii7y.”

“Good night.” SMii7y hung up and placed his phone in the cup holder. He pressed his finger against another button and it started up the car.

The night had gone on for too long, and already the light of the morning was burning out the sky and all its stars. His Handler had given him some information of what he needed to know, but now that he was confronted by the possibility of actually caring about the case. He had to find out more, every specific detail that’s been documented.

He drove out of Orion’s parking lot and headed to his apartment. He takes off his coat, his bag, and most of his clothes until he’s down to his boxers and lies down on his bed. Relishing in the cold blankets and instantly falling asleep.

He has flashes of the long night he experienced. The one with Sarah Reynolds body lying against the wall with the bite mark. While John is bit outside of Eclipse, screaming while the Dweller pins him to the rough asphalt before SMii7y gets to him, and shoots him in the head.

The flashes continue as SMii7y tears the fang from the Dwellers mouth and walks back over to John, except John isn’t alive in his dream. He’s simply lying on the ground, bled out from his wound with SMii7y’s coat covering his body.

He can’t help but stare as the sun rises too quickly and his body becomes ash and blows away into the air, leaving nothing on the ground.

He had known this man who smiled a bit too much with drunken glazed eyes, and awfully flirting with him on the other side of the bar counter.

And now he was dead, because SMii7y hadn’t thought he would die so quickly. That he would become something he didn’t want, that shouldn’t have happened, and yet it did. It left a pit in his stomach, a disgusting twine burning as he fell to his knees and dropping the yellowish pink fang.

He died because SMii7y was incompetent.

When he woke up, SMii7y was lying on his side, hugging his pillow to his chest. The sun had cut through the slit between the curtains and barely hit him as he crawled from the bed. His body ached as he stretched and headed for the bathroom to wash up.

When he returned to the kitchen, he caught the time. It was four in the afternoon, and there was a tan colored dossier sitting on his glass table with his name on the front. He looked to the door and glared at it, knowing someone had walked in and placed it down while he was sleeping in the next room.

He’d have to talk to his Handler about that.

SMii7y turned on his coffee maker and sat down at the table. He opened the dossier and found Max Daniels staring at him. He was young with brown hair and brown eyes, a pale face with freckles along his nose. Apparently he wasn’t on Orion’s radar until Max’s recent attack. If he hadn’t murdered his girlfriend, then he’d probably be still hiding in their sorry excuse of a house.

“Why did you attack Sarah?” SMii7y asked, he got up and placed a cup down on the table, pouring in his coffee, and dumping three sugar cubes in with a bit of cream. He sat back down and stirred his coffee while reading the report.

Max had lived a normal human life before he was changed into a Vampire. The Dweller status had only come around about a year ago, and he had been dating Sarah for longer. If it was mutual, there had to be a reason, something more than just bloodlust.

He would’ve been controlled.

Flipping the page and taking a sip of his coffee, relishing in the strong sweet taste and the burn on his tongue.

There was another report, something a bit more personal coming from his Handler who explained a bit more about the Dwellers.

There were three current ranks that were known.

The first was The Seekers, the more advanced of the vampires who didn’t need to drink blood every few hours, and could move around humans without provoking any harm to them. They were quite efficient and rare to come upon.

The next was the Exiles. The ones who told others about what they were, and The Seekers would either kill them or exile them from their known covens. They were even the types who would become hungry more often than Seekers.

The last were The Fledglings. The newborns. The ones who needed to be controlled. Their transition can take several days to weeks or months. They were incredibly sensitive to humans and animals alike. They become ravenous and dangerous to be around.

_They aren’t super strong, or super beautiful ;)_

SMii7y rolled his eyes at his Handler’s writing on the side in red pen.

By the end of the report, SMii7y contemplated what he needed to do for the day, and about the Max Daniels case. The Fledgling was still walking around, and if he killed his girlfriend, then no one was safe around him. At least until he got thirsty again.

SMii7y had to figure out if he was to bring Max back or kill him on the spot once he finds him. He’d have to speak to his Handler later.

Right now, he was curious about something.

SMii7y got dressed and placed the dossier inside his satchel and walked out of his apartment.

He wanted to visit John as well, but he knew he couldn’t do that. Not when he was busy with work. Maybe if he was given a break, he could sneak to the Detainment Cell and see how he was doing. Except, SMii7y wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

A half hour later, SMii7y pushed open the front doors to Orion and walked along the foyer towards the elevator.

He tapped the button a few times and watched the door close slowly. He looked through his contacts in his phone and found Anthony’s name. He wrote him a quick text.

_Do me a favor. Find out about the infected I brought in last night, and give me a report on his current status. — SMii7y._

Tucking his phone back into his pocket, SMii7y left the elevator and walked towards the File Room. There was something he was curious about, something he hadn’t thought about until he stared at Max Daniels face in his kitchen.

He walked inside and went straight for the computer where he signed in and located his name. Tapping it, he found several files on the missions he had done that had to do with the Dwellers in the city. And went straight for the most recent, the Dweller who had bit John and changed him.

He found his name and picture. He was in his early thirties with short dark hair and light green eyes. He looked young once, and from the night SMii7y had killed him, he was already rotting from the inside and destroyed the outer part of his appearance. Why was that? Vampires didn’t do that...they don’t crumble the way he had, and certainly, from what he found out about him, a Seeker didn’t revert back to a Fledgling.

SMii7y gritted his teeth and printed out the file. He needed to know everything about this Dweller.

Harold Rush.


	6. Echoed Screams & Bloody Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kryoz is dealing with the Turning, but someone opened the door to his cage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I think that writing fanfiction is like writing a first draft, but making sure that it's professionally polished. There's a lot of annoyance's that goes into writing fanfiction that people think that it has to be perfect of some kind. So, if you see an error of some kind that can be skimmed over, then that's fine, or if there's a larger part of the story that is obviously can't be skimmed over, then say something. 
> 
> Reminder, I'm writing this for fun, and hoping you're enjoying it as well! :D
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

His screams echoed all around him, and his throat was going dry, while his eyes were wet from tears. He had slammed his hands against the wall for so long that he had broken a finger. And he kept doing it over and over as spikes of pain flared upon his entire body. He couldn’t think correctly during the first five hours, and then the next after. Time had gone fast and slow, up and down, and sleep wouldn’t help calm him down. 

He had lied on the floor, twitching and panting, staring at his bruised hands that were purple and violet, puffy on the sides, including where his broken finger resided. He had bitten his lip hard until it had started to bleed, and he was afraid that he might’ve torn off a bit of skin, maybe he even managed to fuck up his tongue as well. He had bitten that too when he was screaming and sobbing against the thick steel door.

SMii7y, Tyler, or even Craig, didn’t hear him, he had called their names so many times that the echo kept returning to him. Mocking him for what was happening as parts of his body became cold and hot. A burning sensation as if his skin was rotting. He had gone numb numerous of times, crawling toward the door, scratching his broken fingernails upon the ground. 

He was claustrophobic. He had cried over how much he couldn’t breathe, while a terrible migraine settled around his head and he was sure he had torn out clumps of dyed blond hair. 

SMii7y was right. It was brutal and exhausting. His mouth was parched, and the blood capsules did nothing to stop himself from thinking about what he could actually have. He even bit himself in the arm, trying to taste the blood that resided within his skin, but since he was no longer alive, not technically anyways, he started to dry heave in the corner from the attempt.

“Don’t leave me in here…” Kryoz whimpered on the ground, shaking, “please, don’t leave me here.”

It was burning his insides, and he knew in a few minutes he would feel the effects again. Scalding in his veins, in his chest where his lungs were, as if he were shoved under water to drown several more times. The hunger was trying to grapple for a single breath of air, for a relief that could stop his heart from stuttering inside his chest. 

This was his fault for what happened, right? It had to be. Everything that came down to what was going on inside the steel room. They locked him inside because he couldn’t stop himself. He was wrong, he was guilty. 

“SMii7y!” Kryoz yelled, throat hoarse, “Tyler! Craig! Someone...I won’t do it again...please…I won’t do it again…” The thing was, he didn’t understand what he was talking about. Words fell through his throbbing mouth, and the heat had made every other thought distorted. What was he trying to tell them? What was he trying to bargain? 

He squeezed his eyes closed and thought of when this began. The night when he was at the club, buying drinks for his friend’s, talking to SMii7y who stood on the other side of the bar counter. He had wanted to ask SMii7y if he was doing something later, but a scream had broken their trail of conversation. 

He was on the street, looking for his friend’s, and then some man appeared from behind him. He had grabbed his arms and Kryoz had landed on the ground, trying to shove the man off of him while the man leaned down and bit into his neck. 

He had bit him. He had turned him into this thing that was writhing on the ground within some kind of steel box. No one could hear him because of what that man had done to him. He was forgotten when his teeth dug into the skin of his throat, and changed him entirely. 

He had killed him, and Kryoz held onto that sliver of hatred that spewed into his veins. He hated him for what he had done. He put a divide between himself and everyone else. He was unfortunate enough to find himself within the steel box, to be left and forgotten while feeling nothing but a strong sense of wanting to truly die. 

SMii7y was right on that regard.

How did he die the first time? He must’ve been sleeping when it happened. At least he knew how it was, unlike what he was going through now. This was absolute torture, and the people who had locked him inside the room weren’t going to do anything about it. They were going to leave him inside until he was finished Turning, or if he decided to die. 

He tried to think of something else besides the pain, except it was too difficult. He was brought back to it, his entire body tensing, forcing a scream from his already burning throat. Tears leaked from his eyes. 

SMii7y. He met him in Eclipse, the new bartender with an indifferent expression, and cared little for anyone besides the job he worked at. Kryoz could see it the first moment they met, that there was something about him and he was eager to find out. He wouldn’t lie, he liked the thought of SMii7y being mysterious.

And learning of those secrets he hid away was not in anyway interesting to him now that he was locked inside a steel room. He thought maybe SMii7y would have a different type of secret, something normal, or maybe something Kryoz could laugh at later when relationship finally hit it off. 

Not this. Oh, fuck, not this. 

The world kept slipping out from under his feet. Over and over again, he was hit with another overheated wave that prickled and struck his skin, splitting him open, and tearing out pieces of him. When was it going to stop? When was he going to breathe?

He’s not alive, why should he be breathing? He died from the bite before he met the beautiful enigma that brutally killed the man with grey skin. Ripping out the fang from his mouth with no ounce of remorse crossing his pale face. There wasn’t even curiosity, just boredom.

It had left a strange shiver over Kryoz’s skin. Cold slithered throughout his body, fading out the heat that tortured him for far too long. The blood was stark on Smii7y’s hands, the smell of it surrounded his body and his every footstep, it never seemed to have left, not even when he locked Kryoz inside the room.

SMii7y smelled so strong of blood.

Blood was gross, disgusting, it smelled stale like rusted pennies. Except, something changed, his thoughts rearranged themselves to that memory, they yearned and clawed for it and brought SMii7y’s bloody hands into perspective under the dim lighting where he had placed his coat around his shoulders. His smile was soft, his gaze steady, yet there was a troubling aspect about him and the situation they were both in. 

His demeanor changed constantly since that moment on the street. And yet, even how much SMii7y seemed so different, Kryoz’s mind could only focus on the blood. As if that was all that mattered.

Would that smell follow him throughout the rest of his life?

Kryoz’s mouth was dry, and he panted, his heart raced, his body constricted, his fingers curled. Oh how he wanted it so badly. He wanted to breathe it in, taste the blood on SMii7y’s fingers. 

He gasped when the door to the room began to slowly open, and light spilled on the floor. He stared, watching and waiting for whoever was on the other side. Except there was no one, and the silence dragged on before Kryoz pushed himself up on shaky knees. 

“SMii7y?” Kryoz croaked, his throat burned, and he felt for the skin there with soft shaky fingers. “SMii7y?” 

There was no one there. Who opened the door? Was this real, it has to be real, right? The headache pushed through his mind, bringing on more pain, but what eased it was a distinct strong smell that was growing firmer as it pooled into the room.

“H-Hello?” No one was answering him. This couldn’t be real, or were they testing his resolve to control himself? Fuck. He can’t believe this is happening. What kind of fucking scenario did he find himself in. They wouldn’t have let him out this early, unless a few days past and he hadn’t noticed.

The smell was strong and he couldn’t push himself to his feet, so he crawled towards it. It grew with his movements as he let out whimpers from the strain, a groan when he pressed too hard on his knee, and when he came to the door and looked out. 

He knew what was drawing him to the door. It was one small red capsule lying on the white tile floor. It was the same one that SMii7y gave him earlier that eased his thoughts of blood. When he woke up after dying from the bite on his neck, he could see feel it there, an ice cold wound, a reminder of what brought him here. 

Kryoz reaches out for the capsule and takes it into his hand. He doesn’t even think about it before its in his mouth and his teeth presses down until the capsule breaks, filling a portion of his mouth with blood. He lolls his head forward, his arms shaking, and he moans at the sweet, delicious, and addictive taste. 

“I...want more…” he mutters, the smell was still strong enough that he crawled the rest of the way out and spotted a trail leading to the end of the hall where another door was left open. 

Someone broke him out? 

He reached for the next capsule, and then the next, and the next until he was leaned against the white wall, eyes closed, relishing in the blood filling his mouth. 

“Oh fuck,” Kryoz groans, tensing, “I might cum from this.” It’s not the strangest thought he ever had, but it’s one that entered his head, the other thought was who had let him out in the first place.

Each capsule he had taken eased the rapid thoughts in his head, and even though he was still getting the spikes of pain and waves of heat, it wasn’t as intense as it was before. The capsules helped him so much that the room felt cooler, much less restricting as it did within the small metal room he was locked inside. 

Kryoz looked down at his hands. They were bruised, scratched, but after a few minutes, they weren’t that bad. Even his finger that he had broken was fine, just a numbing ache came from the bone itself.

He stared at it peculiarly, “So...I don’t sparkle, but I can heal?” He needed to ask SMii7y that whenever he finds him. 

That was his goal right? At this moment? 

He can smell that strong scent SMii7y carried around with him, seeping into his skin, ever so present that he hadn’t noticed it until now. Blood. Blood. Blood on his hands, on his clothes, in his hair. It was so strong that he covered it in sweat and cologne, the taste of coffee is subtle, but it’s there, and Kryoz’s mouth waters at the thought of it. 

He wonders how he would smell if he was actually standing in front of him. Would he be like the blood in the capsules, or much more sweeter, more delectable that he couldn’t get enough of it? Kryoz wouldn’t even know what he would do when he finds SMii7y. His teeth throb at the inquiry. He wants so badly that his doubts and restraint caves inside. 

He attempts to rise from the floor. He feels like a rag doll. Weak and worthless, but the taste of blood was still there on his tongue, and he wanted to fall into that desire that propelled him to his feet, and made him aware of the bright lights above him, he winced as he staggered from the room. 

He needs to find him. That’s all that mattered right now. He needed to find him and the strong, beautiful, delicious scent will lead him straight to SMii7y.


End file.
